Steady Spending

By Chris Nebenzahl, Associate Director of Research, Yardi Matrix

The 2018 CPE-MHN Top Mortgage Banking Firms survey once again featured a mix of diversified real estate companies and dedicated lending institutions, as CBRE, Walker & Dunlop, JLL, KeyBank Real Estate Capital and Berkadia Commercial Mortgage took the top five spots in our rankings. The majority of firms’ lending activity was in the multifamily and office arenas, but a distinguishing quality of many of the top-ranked firms was that their portfolios span almost every real estate asset class.

Our top 25 firms served as the financial intermediaries on more than $130 billion worth of real estate loans, while their combined direct lending portfolios exceeded $115 billion over the 12 months ending in September. As the calendar turns toward 2018 and the real estate cycle churns forward, capital remains available to investors and developers looking for financing. Many of the firms in our rankings increased their lending portfolios year-over-year, and despite a slowdown in price appreciation, commercial real estate transaction volume remained steady in 2017. Without a major fiscal or monetary policy change or a significant economic disruptor, expect mortgage bankers to continue lending at a similar pace in 2018.

Methodology

The 2018 CPE-MHN Top Mortgage Banking Firms ranking utilized self-reported data for all firms. The ranking is a weighted formula based on a variety of factors, including total transaction volume, coverage offered, growth in transaction volume and loan positioning, among others. The ranking represents what we feel is a logical balance between firm growth and market share, as well as sector diversity or specialization. Ranking factors are not limited to the data on this page.